Waymo has announced that it will soon remove human safety supervisors from its vehicles in San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa and Denver, allowing its cars to operate fully autonomously in those cities. The move marks a further step in the Alphabet-owned company's expansion of driverless robotaxi services, initially for its own employees before opening up to the public. The development matters because it signals growing confidence in the technology and broadens the reach of commercial driverless ride-hailing across the United States.

The four new cities will join Dallas, Houston, Orlando and San Antonio, which already offer driverless Waymo rides, taking the company's fully autonomous operations to more than 10 cities. Waymo has also begun testing in London as part of its first international expansion, though some residents reportedly complained about vehicles reversing out of a cul-de-sac. Separately, Waymo and Uber have ended their partnership in Phoenix, meaning rides can no longer be booked via the Uber app, although they remain available through Waymo's own app; Uber is now developing its own robotaxis with Lucid and Nuro.